Micromax Informatics Limited: Growing challenges for India’s Largest Smartphone Maker

Micromax was originally incorporated in 2000 as an IT company. It was only in 2008 that the company started manufacturing mobile phones when its founders – Rahul Sharma (Sharma), Vikas Jain (Jain), Rajesh Agarwal (Agarwal), and Sumeet Arora (Arora) – decided to expand and distribute their IT hardware business. Though a late entrant into the thriving Indian smartphone market, Micromax differentiated itself by offering feature rich smartphones at affordable prices. Micromax launched the Canvas 2 A110 – the first dual-core smartphone to hit the Indian smartphone market in the budget category. With a price point of US$150, the Canvas 2 was a game changer for the company. Reportedly, Micromax imported handsets from China and rebranded and launched them in the Indian market at lower prices. Its disruptive price points helped the company gain an edge over its competitors. Having tasted success in the domestic market, Micromax went global and launched its products in countries such as Russia, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka....